Review of Scooby-Doo! and the Legend of the Vampire (2003) by Phantom M — 01 Aug 2010

This is the fifth animated straight to DVD film of Scooby Doo and you would think the show would have run out of steam by now and to be frank I wouldn?t argue with you there but it is nice to see the voice actors together again for the first time since 1973 and when it comes to a film like this you have to be as open as possible and just review it for what it is and thereby, mostly, waving a bulk of Critism.

The film follows Scooby and the gang who are on vacation in Australia where they attend a musical festival held at Vampire Rock where the legendary Yowie Yahoo Vampire resides and is kidnapping the musicians, who include The Hex Girls. Masquerading as a heavy metal band aptly named ?Those Meddling Kids? the gang must uncover the identity of the vampire.

The villain always deserves to be talked about in Scooby-Doo, be it an episode or a full length feature, and the villain here is decent enough to work and I was pretty impressed with the visual style of the Vampire and regarding plot, I thought that the entire plot fits the 72 minute running time perfectly which is due to the humour which is predominately slapstick based and if you know you don?t enjoy that sort of humour then I don?t see why you are watching Scooby-Doo in the first place it is to be expected.

The antics of Mystery Inc may actually be feelings a little, I emphasize the word little here, tiresome but I do believe there is some steam in them yet and they sure as hell won?t go out without a fight. You can?t call their antics formulaic because that is how the cartoon has been since it started in 1969 and that is how the show will always be because it is aimed at children, regardless who may actually watch it, and children need a sense of familiarity and thereby repetition. I for one wasn?t terribly bored; on the contrary I was actually quite enjoying myself throughout and to boot I enjoyed seeing all the characters using their own unique catchphrases, nostalgia did it?s work there. Kids will love it and most adults will too just don?t expect too much from it because this most certainly not a Disney full length feature.

Skip to the End.

8.0/10.

Fans of Hanna Barbera fans will love it and so will kids, no doubt about it but at times it will test the patience of adults but if they just learn to relax it and take it for what it is, they may find themselves pleasantly surprised and actually quite enjoying it.